It's Been Real Guys

There is a lot I could say now that we have reached the end of the line, but I do feel like some of it needs to be said.

When I found WZCW I was 21 and really had no direction in life. I had few friends, was in a bad place mentally, just overall not living my best life. I've told the story before, but after the second RP I wrote, I was ready to quit because I just had zero grasp on what was going on. It wouldn't be the last time I considered quitting. Those thoughts were in the back of my mind all the way until the end. I'll admit to being the one who said we needed to end it. WZCW had been on life support for some time and I was an equal mix of sad and frustrated with the fed and just couldn't bring myself to see it in the state it was in anymore.

I've spent a lot of time thinking about what I've accomplished in the last 8-9 years. I had a run as Head of Creative that a lot of people have praised and some have said I was the best HoC in history. That's extremely debatable, but I'll always appreciate those who said it. I wrote matches that were given high praise. Wrote RPs that made people laugh and others that made them cry. I won every title we have, and made respectable runs in every Gold Rush I was in, and had three top five Lottery finishes. Brag on myself a little, but deep down I know that I proved in my time that I was good.

I think the secret came out long ago, but for those who don't know, Mikey Stormrage was always a self insert character. Over time he grew from being literally me, to being an exaggerated version of me, to being whatever he became at the end of the day, but at his core, Mikey Stormrage was always me, Mikey Brown. Writing the character helped me in more ways than just expressing myself creatively. I gained some more confidence in myself. Writing Mikey as this guy who always did his best to have a good time really helped me push aside some of my own pain. And showing Mikey going through these moments of loss and depression, even in times when it was cliche, helped me cope with my own depression and mental illness.

Maybe biggest of all, writing Mikey helped me come to terms with who I truly am. Up until a couple years ago, I was in the closet about my sexuality. Having Mikey the character come out as bisexual helped me come out as bi as well. It all seems much more serious than it should be, but since I started being honest with myself, I am happier.

My favorite accomplishment in my near decade with WZCW though was the friends that I made. I've fought with you guys, annoyed you, been a dick, shared personal details, helped people get through struggle and have been helped through my own. You guys made a positive impact on my life in so many ways. WZCW became and will remain a family to me. It was talking to you guys on a near daily basis and sharing our love of wrestling that has helped me chase that boyhood dream. Now I'm working for a pro wrestling company and training and being part of a world that so many of us have wished we could be part of, and its due in part to you guys making me fall in love with wrestling again.

I can't have a goodbye message without the obligatory list of people, so here goes.

KJ - I always put you on top for a reason ;)
The truth is, without you, I'm not sure if I would have reached the heights I did. Hell, I know I wouldn't. We were both in that midcard rut, two solid hands to have on a roster but not much else to offer. Then we had a random feud, literally the last feud to be booked for that cycle, and it was a fucking title feud, that's how little momentum we had. We just clicked. I'm still not 100% sure what caused us to click, but we did and holy fuck man. We left our mark, for better and worse. Live Mas was a stupid slogan that turned into so much more. You became a brother, in the fed and out, and I'm never gonna forget that. Live Mas, always!

Shotaro -
You were my first real friend in the fed, and the guy who kept me around. Without you I would have never grew into a decent RPer and I would have never stuck around and made the friends I did. It sucks that real life has taken you in directions that don't allow for the endless Skype chats and hours of Football Manager we used to have, but I'm always going to value your friendship. Thanks for always reaching out when younger me needed it.

Lee -
Now that the fed is over, I just want you to know. You won't be missed. Saying that in a moment of anger is probably my biggest fed regret. Never getting to have a proper feud, hell even a proper match with you, is one of the others. You are literally the only person here today I never had a proper one on one match with. No clue how it happened. You have really become a close friend and someone who I enjoy talking to about a lot of subjects. You were a legend long before most of us cut our teeth, but you managed to do something only two or three other guys ever did, completely reinvent your character and succeed. It was always a fun read when you were on your game, and even when you had to phone it in, you usually managed to get a chuckle from me. I haven't made my obligatory "I'm a trendy American who follows soccer" comment yet, so just know that as much as I love you, my Everton fandom will never truly forgive you for looking like Klopp.

Spidey -
You can put most of what I said about Lee in this. That day we got to meet up, that shit rocked. Politically Incorrect Guess Who was my fucking jam. I will never not think Ramparte was some sort of gay vampire (or whatever J.K. Rowling shit I decide to add to him retroactively in my head ), and I will never forgive you for all the literary references that went over my head and made me feel stupid, but you are a true friend. Thank you for being my leftist in a red state brother.

Dynamite -
I think of all the people I ever saw pass through, no one had the improvement you did. Just absolute day and night from Joe West to Flex. There were a lot of growing pains with Krypto, but the upward arc as you progressed through the three was fun to watch. Even if we never had those DMs checking in on each other and relating some of our struggles, I would still be honored that you were my final KC match. I hope you taking the title there makes up for me taking the tag titles at LL and then dropping them by KC a few years back. You are talented and without sounding too sappy, watching you grow and mature over the years has been cool. Proud of you man.

Matrix -
You had a pretty fine improvement story yourself. It took you some time to find your footing and groove, but Callie really made her mark. You have invited me to about 12 fantasy leagues, so you keep me busy lol. I will always be around to give you shit for being an indie mark and tag you in all the Dodgeball memes I see on Facebook. I may even try to get Tessa's autograph for you in March. Probably not, but still, I'll consider it since we are friends.

Ty-
First and foremost I have to thank you because I was at a point where I was doing okay as a comedy midcard guy, but we worked together and you really helped me step up my game. One of my proudest moments was winning a vote off you in our KC match. In Mikey's entire career, he lost by submission once, it was to Ty. I always viewed that as a special moment, because him not tapping and fighting until he passed out was kayfabe his coming out party. I did also eliminate you in the final four of the Lottery one year, that was nice. I remember in my early days I wanted to be friends with you so bad. You were just cool as shit and into a lot of the same hip hop I was. I'm glad I wasn't too big a dork and turn you off to me. Hopefully one day we get the chance to share some drinks together before we get too old to recover the next day.

BK -
One of my favorite moments in my career was when I got to write you eliminating me in the Lottery. I'd seen you grind for years and come up short and when I got to write that crowning moment, I was honored. You are one of the nicest guys I've ever come across and I only wish that we got the chance to interact more. I thought Triple X was fun to write, but Xander was even more fun and I felt good every time you would message me praising my matches.

Dave-
You were the first guy to ever call me the best HoC. So I blame you for my ego lol. You were always a pleasure to work with, both as an opponent and as a creative team member. The original plan we had for our extended feud never came to light, but I think we still did a good job and it made our WHC match that much better. You were one of the best match writers the fed ever saw and I'm happy for you that you are out there with the woman you love and the wee baby.

FunKay-
Much like BK and Triple X, Holmes was always a fun character to write and each time you gave me your seal of approval I felt good. You were always a solid dude, and one of the guys I wish I could have worked with more over the years. You managed to take a gimmick that is pretty much a cliche and turn it into one of the best heels in fed history. Each time I see William Regal I will always think of you and Holmes.

Falk-
Oh my brony brother, how long ago that feels. I feel like we always had a pretty solid friendship, one that went beyond the ponies. Getting to work with you and writing the romance between Eve and Mikey was fun, even if I kind of fucked up the end of it. You are one of the guys whose life really improved during your time in WZCW and while it always sucks when someone as talented as you had to step away, I was happy for you. Keep being weird my friend.

Jeff-
Jeff you are fucking weird. I mean that in the best of ways. You are batshit insane but holy fuck can it make for some fun reads. I have to give you credit, you came in and really tried some out of the box stuff and you just had fun with it. A lot of us could have done more of that. It was refreshing. Keep your stick on the ice buddy.

Tasty-
I've always respected you. You are so eloquent when you have something to say and what you say is so impactful. Even when I disagree with you, you present what you have to say well. Garth was always interesting and that's a nod to your ability to come up with new ideas and make them worthwhile. I just hope all those times you wrote Garth shooting on the fed, you didn't truly hate me, even if I deserved some of it.

Ech-
Fucking weeb. You had two very complex characters, but you had such a firm grasp on them both. It was impressive. Anytime I'm going through some heavy shit and I get a text from you, its nice. If things work out, hopefully we can meet up sometime in 2020 and I can finally call you a weeb to your face. It will be a fun time when it happens.

Kermit-
Selfishly I wish you didn't have to go be a teacher and have a family, I miss our Skype calls and all the ideas we tossed around. You put in a lot of work on the creative side of the curtain and wanted the best for the fed, I always appreciated that. You are a good man, better than most, and I'm glad we got a chance to become friends. I also wanna thank you for Olapido and Sabonis, we totally won that trade.

Milenko-
I give you a lot of shit, but I've said it before I give you shit because I like you. You have taken more shit in stride than almost anyone to ever post on WZ/SCF. You are a positive example of giving people a chance to show they have changed. You have one of the purest hearts, and your intentions are always good. Hang onto that because the world needs more of it.

K Web-
Fuck Alabama and USC and Ohio State. You are a solid dude. Doesn't matter if its sports, rasslin, music, you usually have something good to talk about. You were one of those guys who made improvements in your time and I always respect that. It's easy to give up, but you stuck it out and even got yourself a title with Logan, even if it only lasted about half a show lol. I will always be thankful to you for letting me use Logan in that RP where I wrote them wrestling a match at a house show.

Sawa-
The timing of the closing hit you harder than most, as I feel like you were showing improvement on a fairly consistent basis and your last RP with the diamonds was really a fun and well executed idea. Few people came in with the grasp of their character that you did. It really impressed a lot of us. I'm glad you were convinced to join up and make yourself part of it. I hope you keep kicking ass in training!

Carl-
You were showing improvement with each RP and I only wish you had had more time to see the fruits of that labor. You impressed me with your ability to do research into the fed before you joined. It was something that got you on a solid starting platform. It's fun to talk video games with you, just please for the love of Yeezus stop being the guy who makes Skyrim ports and remasters happen lol.

Bucky-
I really enjoyed the few glances of the Dirk character we got to see. Shame personal issues got in the way of you making a bigger mark, but it really was solid stuff. I enjoy the few times we have interacted. You are one of the guys that I hope stick around because you tend to add good stuff to the conversations.

I know there are people I'm forgetting, but each and everyone of you mean something to me. You have all become my friends and helped make WZCW one of the best experiences of my life. Except Derek Jacobs. Fuck that guy.